


A Little Letter and a Heart Sticker

by FurudeKami



Series: Fire Emblem Collection [3]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Masturbation, Minor Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Nonbinary Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Original Character(s), References to Canon, Sexual Content, Slight spoilers, Soft Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Trans Claude von Riegan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2020-12-20 17:48:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21060701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FurudeKami/pseuds/FurudeKami
Summary: They've been friends for so long, and watched each other change as time went on. The one thing that hasn't changed is a feeling kept pushed down, even as it keeps growing stronger.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a side story of the modern AU series I've started. To get some more info on this modern Felix, be sure to read the main story, Hinomonshō Days.

He watched it progress as time went on. The changes in the one he held closest, his best friend.

He watched as his feelings grew even stronger despite these changes.

Ashe was happy. So, so very happy. So happy that of all people that Felix expressed his inner feelings and desires he’d pushed down to, he’d chosen Ashe with no hesitation. He wanted to return this. He wanted to return the unrestrained sentiments, but the fear he felt that Felix would withdraw again ate away at him, and any courage he may have built up at times always ended up being completely dissolved.

* * *

“Hey Ashe, is this shirt a good match with the wig I chose today?”

He looked Felix up and down, comparing the shirt he’d chosen to the black and red ombre wig the other wore for a moment before giving a smile and nod.

“I’d say it looks very good, yes!” Ashe said. “And you could wear those boots you got a few days ago with it too, and that’d really add a kick to it!”

Felix shook his head with a small smile as Ashe giggled once he noticed his wording of that statement, and pulled the garment on and buttoned it up. Then came the boots, and he sat down on his bed next to Ashe as he pulled them on and zipped up the sides. It took a short moment to adjust to the difference in his height from the heels on them once he stood again, but he still turned here and there to admire his outfit in the mirror.

“I think I did good this time with this ensemble, don’t you?”

“Yeah! You look super pretty!”

A wave of panic would’ve shot through Ashe from saying that so quickly, had he not noticed how soft Felix’s expression had gotten for a moment before it steeled again.

“Thank you, Ashe. I appreciate it.” Felix finally said.

Was that… a small blush on his face? Ashe couldn’t tell if he’d just noticed the slight amount of makeup Felix wore a bit more, or if that was truly a blush, but regardless Ashe was filled with an odd boost in his courage seeing how positively the other had reacted. There was little time to let silence build between them as they gathered their backpacks and made their way out of the room to head to the front door.

“Alright, we’re heading out now.” Felix called out as he put his hand on the doorknob.

“Have fun and be careful out there! I’ll see you when you get back!” The response echoed from the hallway.

“We’ll be careful, don’t worry!” Ashe said now. “Bye, Miss Fraldarius, thanks for letting me visit for a while!”

One last goodbye from Felix’s aunt, and the two made their way out the door to Ashe’s car.

* * *

Claude sat on a bench idly chatting with Dimitri and Sylvain, and happened to look up just in time to see Ashe and Felix walking their way.

“Ooooooh, look at you, you look fuckin’ _ good _, Felix!” Claude said with a grin, and stood to walk over to them. “Rockin’ it over here!”

“Yeah, _ thanks_. I guess.” Felix replied with a raised brow and a small smile.

Ashe opened his mouth to speak, but Sylvain cut in with his own greetings and compliments on the look. Seeing how annoyed Felix was that Sylavin interrupted by the look in his eyes made Ashe feel a little better, he wouldn’t lie.

Before Sylvain could speak too much more, Claude stepped in.

“So, you guys all ready to head over to my place? I got everything all set up ahead of time so I’m ready when you guys are.”

Sylvain, Felix, and Ashe all nodded, and then the group all made their way to the parking lot to get in their vehicles and head to Claude and Dimitri’s house.


	2. Chapter 2

It was odd feeling as open and relaxed as he did, but regardless, Felix wouldn’t deny the fact that he was actually having a lot of fun.

The only two people he’d ever been so open with as he got older were Ashe and Claude, and even they showed some hints of surprise seeing just how much Felix had let himself go with the flow once in a while. With Claude and Sylvain’s jokes, Felix had occasionally jumped in and managed to bring a lot more laughs into the mix, especially with how bluntly he worded things with a nearly straight face. He may not understand emotions and social cues well, but he’d be damned if he didn’t notice just how well it was working in his favor right now.

And it kept going. Not once did Felix ever feel out of place and on the spot, even when he had gotten a little rusty with the joking. Not even when he focused on the fact that Dimitri was right there the whole time did he feel that feeling of being an outsider, much to his surprise. He’d begun to wonder just what was going on to make him feel so familiar and comfortable enough to step out of his comfort zone, so at peace, and even… safe.

“So Felix, have you decided where you wanna sleep?”

“Wh-huh? Oh.” Felix had been snapped out of his daze he’d fallen into as he let his mind wander. “Not exactly. I guess I’ll sleep where Ashe will be, if there’s enough room for it.”

“He said he wanted to take the guest room, so that’s a guarantee of enough space for the both of you.” Claude said, barely hiding the mischievous look in his eyes as he smiled and looked between the two of them. “It’s all big ‘n comfy, so you guys have a good place to snuggle up all warm and stuff.”

Ashe and Felix both shrunk into themselves a bit at how Claude had said that.

“I’m joking, don’t worry.” Claude continued with a giggle and a wave of his hand. “Anyway, Dimitri and I are heading to bed now, g’night guys! Stay up as long as you like, just don’t go digging in stuff and you’ll be good as gold.”

With a final goodnight, Claude and Dimitri made their way upstairs, silence filling the house once their bedroom door shut.

“...So what do you guys wanna bet that they aren’t actually gonna sleep for a while?”

Ashe and Felix both sighed and looked at Sylvain with a frown.

“ _ Sylvain _ .”

“Please don’t encroach on such personal things of theirs,” Ashe said softly, “that’s not okay…”

“What?” Sylvain responded with his hands up in defense. “I wouldn’t be mentioning it if Claude and I didn’t already talk about it-”

“That doesn’t mean _we_ want to be all in their business involving what they do behind closed doors.” Felix interrupted him, his tone clearly showing his growing agitation. “I don’t care to know what the fuck the boar does as is, _especially_ _not_ like this.”

Sylvain just shrugged and brushed it off, and the conversation ended there. Felix checked the time on his phone, an eyebrow raised in surprise at seeing just how late it had gotten. Sylvain did the same, and decided to call it a night as he saw the time change to 1:35 A.M, walking over to the sofa to cover up and get comfortable. Felix and Ashe made their way over to the guest room nearby, and closed the door behind them.

* * *

“Hey, Felix?”

“What is it?”

“Well…” Ashe paused, his swell of courage leaving him again as he watched Felix brush his hair after taking his wig off. “N-never mind, it’s nothing important.”

Felix turned to look at Ashe, his expression giving away that he didn’t believe what Ashe had said whatsoever. He didn’t pressure though, and only turned his body a ways, so that he could continue brushing his hair while being able to keep looking in Ashe’s direction as he waited for the other to continue. It made Ashe feel small looking at that intense gaze, but it was still reassuring in a way that he was given time to process his thoughts. It was a change that had happened over time that he had grown to appreciate in the other.

“You know how we were playing that ‘question game’ earlier, that was basically just us asking each other random stuff we were curious about at the top of our head?”

“Yes, why?” Felix asked. He took a few seconds to turn back around and wipe off his makeup before looking back at Ashe again. “Did it bother you? Should I ask Claude to not bring it up again for you?”

“Oh, no, it wasn’t anything bad, don’t worry.” Ashe shook his head with a smile. “I just wanted to know if… you’d like to play it again with me for a while. To pass the time, or something like that.”

Ashe couldn’t help but notice how his mouth had gotten dry when Felix stood to undress. He was more than thankful the other was turned around again, so he couldn’t see just how flustered Ashe had become. He sucked in a breath when Felix turned around again as he pulled his arms out of the sleeves of his shirt, and couldn’t help but think his plain black seamless cami bra and boyshorts set was a good choice for his build. Hell, it was adorable, even.

“‘Or something like that,’ huh? I don’t see why not.” Felix finally said.

He made his way over to the bed to grab the nightshirt he’d draped over it, pulling the garment over his head and taking a moment to stretch before putting his just removed clothes in his backpack’s main part, and the packaging bag his wig had come in that he had neatly stored it inside in the smaller section. He put the backpack on the floor next to the bed, and got comfortable under the blankets with his hands behind his head.

“Alright, all ready. Let’s get this little game started, shall we?”

* * *

It’d been a simple thing so far. Just normal questions back and forth, along the lines of ‘have you heard of this song?’, or ‘have you ever done this or that?’, things like that.

But another sudden flare of bravery from Ashe made it turn.

“Let’s see… Well, one thing on my mind I wanted to ask is... Have you ever had someone ask your pronouns of their own accord?”

Silence fell over them. That bravery was immediately replaced with an even bigger swell of panic as he saw the look on Felix’s face. Ashe felt like he had done the most inappropriate thing in the world asking that so blatantly, though he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the expression Felix had?

“I-I know this is really personal, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, I-I’m so sorry for being so blunt-”

“No,” Felix said, “it’s actually a really good question. I’m just thinking is all. Y’know, I don’t actually think anyone aside from Claude and Sylvain have on their own and didn't just assume things, if I’m honest. I should start asking people to do that more often, shouldn’t I?”

Ashe didn’t know what else to do but shrug with a smile, his relief so intense that he felt light. “It all depends on what would make you the most comfortable. If it would make things better for you, by all means, make everything known that you want others to be aware of.”

“Well, it’s not something that really bothers me most of the time, so I guess it’s fine. I may not really like being addressed as ‘she’ usually, but it doesn’t get under my skin enough to care to correct anyone. I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it either. I’m meh about it.”

Ashe nodded in understanding.

“Well, whenever there are times where you would like me to address you with a certain pronoun, please let me know, okay?”

Felix raised his eyebrows for a moment, but his expression softened to a small smile before long.

“I will, don’t worry.” Felix raised a hand to give Ashe’s head a gentle pat. “Thank you for being concerned about that. It makes me feel good that you care. Most of the time just keeping to ‘he’ or ‘they’ is good enough, but it’s more than fine to just pick whatever pronouns that would make things easier for you.”

Ashe already knew that his face was getting pretty red. His cheeks felt like they were almost on fire at this point when Felix did this, especially with that look on his face. Felix’s sweet and genuine smiles alone would be the end of Ashe someday, he knew it.

“Well, now that this is all cleared up, it’s my turn.”

Ashe cleared his throat and nodded again, waiting patiently for the other to think of what he wanted to ask.

With a sideways glance, Felix asked: “...Are you getting tired yet?”

Ashe grinned and laughed, but nodded his head as he took a peek at his phone to check the time. 2:48 A.M.

“It’s pretty late, wanna go ahead and sleep, Felix?”

With a short nod, Felix nestled down under the blankets, allowing himself a small sigh when Ashe did the same and moved closer to snuggle up into his chest.

“The room’s really cold, and you’re really warm…”

“As small as you are, you give off heat like a furnace, so feel free to get as comfy and cuddly as you want.” Felix said with a smile.

Ashe happily obliged, and wrapped his arms around Felix’s middle with a happy sigh, his grin widening when he felt Felix hug him and pull him even closer. They had gotten comfortable quickly, and it helped make it much easier to fall asleep.

“G’night…”

“Mmm. Night Ashe…”


	3. Chapter 3

Felix sat idly on the ground outside of his apartment, tapping his feet on the ground in a little beat that replicated one from a song that’d become stuck in his head. He took this time to just look around, his eyes wandering all about at all the butterflies and dragonflies that fluttered around, and took in the quiet chirps of the crickets. It was definitely about to get cold for the year soon, the last wave of crickets had already started singing during the day, and the bugs were all out in big groups on the warmer days before the cold came in and killed the ones who wouldn’t migrate out.

A random thought had cut through the peace though.

“I wonder what Ashe is up to.” He softly mumbled to himself.

After a few more minutes of sitting, he stood with a stretch, and headed back inside. He made his way into the kitchen, intent on a little snack to hold him over for a bit, and walked passed his aunt at the sink to look around in the cupboards.

“How ya doin’, Felix?” She asked cheerfully, not looking up from the sink.

“Good.” Felix responded quietly as he looked around. “Just looking for something to snack on.”

“We’re gonna have lasagna for dinner tonight, so don’t get anything too big since I’m about to start on it soon.”

Felix turned around to look at his aunt, who smiled at how bright his eyes had gotten at the mere mention. He peeked over at the time on the microwave, and paused for a moment.

“How is it already 5 o’clock…? Damn, my perception of time’s all fucked now…”

“Like you had any in the first place?”

Felix’s aunt laughed at the pout and flustered “hey!” she received, and she gave him a little pat on the head before she dried the plate she had been holding and walked out of the kitchen. Felix just sighed and followed suit, and went back to his bedroom to grab his phone. He noticed one of the lights next to his front camera blinked, and checked to see who had text him.

‘Hey there, are you doing alright today? If so, would it be alright if I came over again for a bit?’

It was Ashe. _ Speak of the devil _, Felix thought with a small grin.

He had just tapped on the text area to respond, but the moment his finger hovered over the Y key, he received another text.

‘wanna hang out again today if youre free?’

Felix sighed. It was Sylvain this time.

He took a moment to think. He really only wanted to see Ashe today at first, but since Sylvain had text him too, he kinda wanted to see Sylvain too now. He walked out of his room again to find his aunt back in the kitchen, now washing some silverware now that she had finished up the plates.

“Hey uh, how much lasagna do we have?”

“Plenty, why?” His aunt asked.

“Well, Ashe and Sylvain both text me and wanted to hang out again, so would we have enough to let them have dinner with us?”

“Oh, yeah they can come on by!” She nodded with a smile before continuing with washing what she had left. “Tell ‘em they can come on over whenever they want to. The stuff won’t be done for at least another hour ‘n a half or two since I still need to finish washing this stuff before I start.”

After a nod of his own and a quick thanks, Felix made his way over to the sofa to have a seat. He started his replies with Ashe.

‘Yeah, I’m doing alright today, you can come over whenever you want. We’re having lasagna for dinner tonight if you want to join us. I’ll be asking Sylvain too since he wanted to see me again too.’

‘Oh! That’s perfectly fine, I’ll be over soon!’

‘Alright then, see you soon.’

With that done, now came the response to Sylvain.

‘Yes, I’m free today, and my aunt’s about to start on getting lasagna made for dinner if you want some. Ashe is coming too.’

‘ooooh hell yeah! i love me some good lasagna ill be over there soon!’

‘Don’t make too much of a scene over it, Christ…’

‘oh like you dont? ive seen how you look when you have lasagna dont play coy with me boyo’

‘...Just get your ass over here. Don’t make me retract my invitation.’

‘alright alright sorry im on my way’

Felix rolled his eyes and turned the screen of his phone off after that, and relaxed into the sofa. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms, and let himself get lost in his thoughts a bit so he wouldn’t fall asleep. The spot he had gotten relaxed into was pretty comfortable. He opened his eyes and looked to his side when he felt the furniture shift, and scooted over a bit to let his little cousin have some extra room to sit down.

Well, little was an understatement, considering he was already over 6 feet tall and only 15 years old, but he would always be little in Felix’s heart. The kid was basically like a little brother to Felix at this point since he had been living with them for so long.

“Hey there, kiddo. How’re you doing, huh?”

His cousin grinned when Felix scoot a bit closer to give him a pat on the shoulder before leaning on him for a moment. Felix had very few people he showed his softest sides to, but out of everyone, he was more than sure that his cousin was the easiest to put his walls down for, no matter who or what may have seen him. He cared for his cousin more than he could really describe, if he was honest. And it always brought a smile to his own face when he could get any positive reactions from the boy, and see that genuine joy on his face, and how much his eyes squinted when he smiled and laughed so much that his dimples were as clearly seen as can be. Felix may not be able to really have a full-on conversation with him, since he wasn’t as verbal with his case of autism, but that didn’t make it any less worth it to spend time with the boy and be by his side. He may have wanted to hear about what his cousin thought about, what he liked, among other things, but he had more than enough ways to learn of these things without hearing the words in detail, so Felix was more than happy.

A knock on the door made Felix jolt a bit, but he quickly stood to take a quick look through the peephole to see who it was, and opened the door.

“Heeeeeeey, how’s it goin’?”

“Fine. Hurry up and come in before you let too much of the cold air in too. We already have too much with the central air unit on all the time.” Felix stood to the side to let Sylvain in.

There was a quick hello between Sylvain and Felix’s aunt, then he made his way over to the sofa to sit now. He grinned at Felix’s cousin when he looked over, and ruffled the boy’s hair. He chuckled when he got a short laugh in response. Felix had always watched the interactions between these two closely, and was surprised in the beginning when he saw just how compassionate and accommodating Sylvain was for people like his cousin. Though at this point, he just watched and tried with all his might to not let the smiles show through, since it never failed to make him feel happy and giddy seeing how kindly his cousin was treated, and how cute Felix thought his reactions were. He really liked Sylvain, and it showed. And Felix was beyond relieved and happy about that.

It wasn’t long before another knock on the door was heard, and Felix opened it with a nod and immediate step to the side to welcome Ashe in.

“Hey, glad to have you.”

“Hey, thank you for having me over again! Oh, hi Sylvain!”

“‘Sup Ashe.” Sylvain gave him a quick nod and wave, before he went back to peeking over at what Felix’s cousin was doing as he paid attention to the touchscreen tablet he had in his hands. “What’cha doin’ there, bud?”

To Felix’s surprise, his cousin had actually resituated a bit so that Sylvain could see the screen better. He’d only ever done that for Felix before, so of course this made him pause for a moment to try and process it. He and Ashe took a bit to just watch the two interact, with Felix’s cousin saying a few things here and there, and Sylvain responding with a nod and a few comments about what had been said. All three men grinned when Felix’s cousin began to say what words he’d been typing out as he searched for videos to watch.

“Your cousin is so cute, Felix.” Ashe whispered with a small giggle he couldn’t hold in.

“I know, I love this kid to death.” Felix replied, his own voice soft, else he likely wouldn’t be able to conceal just how much this was affecting him. His grin wasn’t doing him any favors as is.

The three all stuck around the sofa for a short while longer, until Felix’s cousin stood up to pace around once he found a song with a catchy beat to stim to. After that, Ashe and Sylvain followed Felix into the hallway to head to his bedroom for a while.

* * *

“He’s made some real strides in his reading, huh?” Sylvain asked. “Seeing how much he’s improved with everything over the years is really awesome. Hell, he can even pronounce his V’s and F’s really good now, and not as all F sounds. That kid’s going places and he’s making a lot of progress, I’m really proud of him.”

“Yeah.” Felix said, letting another smile tug at the corners of his lips as he looked through some paper had had on the bed from earlier. “It helps he loves learning so much, and loves letters and words. He’s still got some difficulties with the TH’s and still saying them as F sounds, but I’m confident he’ll learn that stuff pretty quickly with how well he’s doing in school now.”

Ashe leaned on Felix’s shoulder and looked up at him, taking in the look in the other’s eyes as they all talked for a while. It made Ashe so happy seeing how much Felix cared about the boy, and how good he was in helping with his care.

“Y’know Felix, you’re like a really good big brother to him.”

That got Felix to stop and look at Ashe.

“Oh? You think so?”

“Of course I do!” Ashe said cheerfully. “You’re always there for him, you’re always showing him kindness and affection, and even if you wanted to, you could never hide just how much you care about him judging by the look you have alone! Just seeing at how much genuine warmth you have in your eyes when you smile at him is enough to melt anyone’s heart!”

Felix’s face immediately went red hearing that, and seeing how enthusiastically Sylvain had nodded to agree. He just cleared his throat and went back to looking through the paper, unable to think of anything to say in response.

“Felix, you guys come on in here ‘n get your plates!”

Well, at least the silence was interrupted before it could last too long. Felix quickly stood and jogged out of the room to get his plate, with Ashe and Sylavin coming into the kitchen behind him a few seconds later. They all thanked Felix’s aunt for the food, and made their way back to Felix’s room. Ashe and Sylvain had long ago found out a big reason why Felix never ate at the table with his cousin, and it was because of how loudly the boy chewed his food. It gets under Felix’s skin to the point of rage hearing someone smack as they chew their food with their mouth open, so he just keeps to his room to avoid any unnecessary anger. 

At least he can do that here; Ashe and Sylvain had witnessed an unfortunate beating of a guy who had purposefully done it even louder, among many other things, all to try and make Felix angrier when they had all been at the Officers Academy due to jealousy of Felix’s skills and wanting to get at him somehow. It wasn’t at all pretty when Claude, Dedue, _ and _ Dimitri all had to pry him off of the guy...

To distract himself from the small bit of anger that had started to form in him, and to occupy their time, Felix had put on a video on his laptop for them to watch as they ate, and everything went peaceful again.

“God damn dude, are you even chewing that?” Sylvain laughed as he saw how much more Felix had eaten than he and Ashe.

“_ Yes, _ ” Felix grumbled, “I’m just chewing and eating quicker than you. You can’t inhale lasagna, you have to _ savor _ it.”

Sylvain just snickered and went back to his food. “Savor it. Gotcha.”

It didn’t really surprise him when Felix was the first one finished, and he leaned back a bit to give Felix room to scoot over to stand up and go get a second helping.

He didn’t finish his too long after, and spent his time looking between the video and Ashe instead of going to get more himself. He saw how into the video Ashe had been, and soon could tell before it even happened when the other was going to laugh at something.

He wouldn’t deny that Ashe was a cute guy. He could definitely see a reason why Felix liked to stay around him so often. Why he liked to be in Ashe’s company so much more than Sylvain’s own. Why he was so much kinder to Ashe, and how easy it seemed to be for Felix to do so-

Sylvain froze, and shook his head with a frown. He was actually _ jealous _ right now? He wasn’t happy at all that he let himself get like that. He just went back to the video, avoiding looking at Ashe as much as possible in hopes that these feelings would fade away. Luckily they had, to his relief. The video ended, and Felix hadn’t come back into the room yet, so Ashe looked around a bit before scooting closer to the laptop to scroll and find another video for them to watch.

“Wait, he allows you to get on that?” Sylvain asked with a tilt of his head.

“Well, not exactly, no…” Ashe replied hesitantly. “But I don’t think he’d mind if I just got on long enough to look for something else to watch, right?”

Sylvain only shrugged. It made him a little nervous thinking about how protective Felix was of these kinds of possessions. He did _not_ like people messing with them unless he explicitly gave them permission to do so after they asked him, and told him _everything_ they had wanted to do. He swallowed a bit harder when Felix returned, seeing Ashe still scrolling as he tried to find something to watch.

“What’re you doing on my laptop, Ashe?”

“O-Oh-! I-I was just looking around for something else for us to watch, since the video you put on had already ended… I hope you don’t mind...”

Sylvain internally braced himself, just in case.

“...Oh. Alright then. I assume you still haven’t found anything, then.”

Sylvain and Ashe both were beyond relieved that Felix’s expression had relaxed so suddenly at hearing that. He leaned over and took a look himself, and decided to just search something specific up since he didn’t really see anything of interest either. After clicking on the video he had searched for, he went to put his plate on top of his small bookshelf that had his mirror on it.

“Are you finished, Sylvain? I can go get you a second helping if you want, I was about to go back in there for a drink anyways.”

“Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind.” Sylvain handed Felix the plate with a nod. “Thanks, dude.”

Felix walked back out without a response, and Sylvain forced himself to shrug it off and keep to the video. Luckily it was funny enough to make him forget about what he had been letting fester earlier, and he laughed right along with Ashe. Felix had walked back in just in time to see Sylvain and Ashe both almost doubled over at this point, they had been laughing so hard.

“Oh, you two aren’t even at the funniest part yet.” Felix said with a small smile as he grabbed his plate, got situated on the bed again, and handed Sylvain his own plate. “Just wait, it’s about to get even better.”

* * *

The room was dark, and all three had gotten comfortable under Felix’s blankets. He had asked his aunt if they could stay over, and she had allowed it, and he went to ask them if they’d like to afterwards. Of course both Sylvain and Ashe agreed. Sylvain’s tiny snores, and Ashe and Felix’s soft whispers as they talked, were the only sounds to be heard in the room.

“Hey Felix?”

“Yes?”

“I wanted to thank you for inviting me over again. I’ve had so much fun with the both of you.”

Felix sighed softly when Ashe hugged him after finishing.

“It’s no problem at all. You’re one of the only people I can stand to be around all the time, since you don’t drain me. Quite the opposite, actually.”

He felt Ashe smile against his chest, and he let himself do the same.

“I’m so happy to hear that, Felix…”

That sweet voice… Felix could listen to it for hours on end. Even if Ashe had started rambling in a language he didn’t understand, he’d still enjoy it just as much. It was like music to his ears, and never failed to relax him, and even made him more chipper in some rare cases. Sometimes when he wasn’t in a good place in his mind, he’d think of having a conversation with Ashe, and it would help ground him again. He’d picture Ashe hugging him tight, softly assuring him that things would get better, and that he would always be there when Felix needed him.

He wanted to say something. But when he waited a moment and realized that Ashe had fallen asleep too, he just sighed again. It would have to wait. Though when he took time to think about it, it had just given him a bit of anxiety, so that may not really be a bad thing. At least to him.

He just braved giving Ashe a quick and soft kiss on his head instead, and let himself finally close his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Everything flashed across his vision so quickly, he so desperately wished it was a blur. Maybe that would help reduce the sheer amount of agony he felt as he tried to look away from all these gruesome things, but couldn’t escape them.

  
  


“I-I-I’m sorry! Don’t leave me! Don’t l-leave me, Glenn!!”

A young Dimitri gripped at Felix’s shirt tightly, the tears flowing as he rambled on relentlessly in his state of shock from the events that he had been subjected to. It made Felix feel even more numb hearing this, feeling every bit of emotion he had been suffering through as he mourned his brother’s death fade away as Dimitri persisted.

“I am me, Felix Hugo Fraldarius. There is no one else.”

His voice was empty as those words came out of his mouth, these memories finally fading away to transition to a different set of nightmares.

  
  


He saw himself screaming at a now fully grown Dimitri, the shock of what had just happened still hung heavy among the entire group. A sacrifice was made, and Felix, along with the rest of the Blue Lions, were forced to fight off who had faced them then run, leaving his father’s body behind after losing his life in Dimitri’s place. It took almost three full days for anyone to get through to him after he had hurried to his room in the building where they were all staying, and even then, he was bitter and empty. Much more empty than before and overriding his aggression at this point, which was almost terrifying for everyone when they witnessed just how quiet and distant Felix was in every regard, his eyes completely foggy as his empty stare was never once focused on anything.

Neither Sylvain nor Ashe had given up on him, though. They continued to stay by him every moment they could do so, and eventually he had stopped fighting them and just accepted whatever they insisted on.

He could feel the tears beginning to fill his eyes at this memory, and the onslaught of thoughts as he wondered if his father would’ve even considered doing such a thing for him if it were to come to that. Luckily, this set of memories left fairly quickly before more came up.

  
  


“Felix, you keep on going, while I…”

“NO! Shut the  _ fuck _ up! Quit fucking joking like that, you piece of shit! You  _ ALWAYS _ do this shit, you’re so careless and I always have to fucking save your ass! You’re always…  _ A-ALWAYS-! _ ”

He was interrupted when Sylvain pulled him in for a hug, refusing to let him go even as he threw out countless threats, and even had gone as far as to pull out his sword to brandish it and show that he wasn’t kidding. Felix finally let out one more snarl before he fell quiet and dropped his sword, giving up trying to threaten him into letting go, and allowed Sylvain hold him as he rested in his bed to heal from his injuries.

“You’re strong Felix, if I were to go, I know you could tear through and keep on fighting.”

“You won’t die.  _ I won’t let you. _ ”

Felix had felt empty again as he had spoken again, losing himself in it before he could even notice and prevent it.

“I won’t let you. I won’t let you die. You’re not going to die. You’re not ever going to die as long as I live, Sylvain…”

He didn’t even notice the infinite expanse around him fade to black, too lost in his repetition. Too lost in his obsession.

Nothing could cut through, until a certain set of voices called his name.

“Felix… Hey, it’ll be alright...“

Felix’s eyes widened as he was jolted out of his daze, seeing the form in front of him shift and change into a clear view of Claude, who looked at him with nothing but sadness.

“Felix! Felix, please, please snap out of it! Don’t give up, fight it!”

The second voice was enough to get the void around him to start fading in and out. Claude gave him a sad smile before his gaze shifted upwards.

“Looks like I’ve got help. Don’t give up, okay? You can fight through these things, we know you can.”

Felix didn’t protest when Claude walked over to pull him into a gentle hug, and hesitantly returned the gesture as he nestled into the crook of Claude’s neck.

“I’m sorry… I’m letting you down, aren’t I?”

“No way!” Claude replied, his form becoming blurry now as the distant but booming calls of Felix’s name kept on, and what sounded like another voice that had been added to the noise. “We’re here for you, and we’ll always help you when you need us. Just say the word.”

He pulled away, and gave Felix a wink before waving at him slowly.

“Bye, Felix. It’s time for you to wake up now. Ashe and Sylvain are waiting for you.”

  
  


And with that, the void around lit up to a blinding white before his eyes forced themselves open.

He sat up with a gasp, his breathing ragged as he looked between Ashe and Sylvain, both completely focused on him with nothing but worry on their faces.

“Felix, are you alright?!”

Ashe pulled him in quickly, and Felix could feel him trembling as he held on tight. He didn’t even try to fight his tears, and just let them fall as he hugged Ashe back. He flinched away a bit when Sylvain put a hand on his shoulder to rub it gently, and it only made him feel worse seeing the hurt in Sylvain’s eyes before he hid it away.

“Was it a bad nightmare?” Sylvain asked softly, moving his hands to rest them in his lap instead.

Felix only nodded, not daring to make a sound except for his sniffles and trembling breaths as he cried. He already felt pathetic and miserable being seen like this, it would only make everything worse if he tried to speak, and become overwhelmed as a result.

The three just sat in silence, giving Felix a chance to just let things out and regroup. A soft knock on the door and the sound of it opening slowly interrupted them though. Felix almost shouted when he turned his head to see who decided to just come right in, but who he saw come in and close the door behind him got Felix to shut his mouth hard enough for his teeth to clack together lightly.

“Hey, I’m here now. You doing any better than you were before?”

Sylvain and Ashe looked on with surprise.

“...Claude? What do you mean by that? Did Felix talk to you before bed last night or something?”

He only shook his head at Sylvain before walking over to sit on the edge of the bed.

“No, we didn’t talk at all yesterday. I just... have my ways of knowing.”

* * *

He felt really weird being so comforted by the presence of these three, but for now Felix wouldn’t question it. He’d only been questioning how the hell Claude knew he wasn’t doing alright, and came over to check on him because of it. Seeing Claude like that in his nightmare was only just another part of it before he woke himself up… right?

Though to be fair, how Claude had so nonchalantly said ‘looks like I’ve got help’ in the dream had been in his thoughts, even as he was still under the stress of waking up from all of that. There was something off about that whole thing, but he didn’t know what. Especially because of how quickly it had all ended when Claude had waved goodbye and told him it was time to wake up...

“Hey Felix, do you think you’ll be doing better for now?”

He looked at Claude and nodded. “I think so, yes. Whatever the hell you did… thank you. That's all I can really find to say.”

Claude smiled brightly at him in return, and gave him a wink before he stood to walk to the door again.

“I’m glad I could help. Well, now that things are getting better again, I think I should head out. Dimitri and I have some things we need to do today too, so I hurried over before we had to head out to our meeting we need to attend.”

Felix’s expression dropped a bit at hearing that. Claude had things to do today, but he still came over despite that? Why did he even waste his time doing that? He chose Felix over important things… Felix didn’t understand why.

“I know that look, Felix.” Claude’s voice interrupted his thoughts before they could go too far. “It’s really not that big a deal. Between meetings and shit and my friends, I will  _ always _ choose my friends. The well being of those I care about matters more to me than sitting around for who knows how long with no guarantee of even having a chance to speak until it’s all over.”

Claude was given curious looks, but no one asked him about the details. He was secretly grateful for that, he wouldn’t deny that. With one last wave, he opened the door and left, closing it behind him once again.

“That was… odd.” Ashe broke the silence, looking between Felix and Sylvain a few times.

They nodded in agreement, and decided to change the subject after that.

* * *

The rain tapped against the windows of Ashe’s car as he drove back to his own house, with Felix in the passenger seat looking out with his head rested in his hand.

“It’s kind of sad that it started pouring as soon as we wanted to get ready to go take a walk, huh?”

“A little bit. At least I get to go to your house instead. It’s been a while.”

“It really has, hasn’t it?”

With one last turn, Ashe pulled up into his driveway, and the two had taken a bit to just sit in the car after Ashe had taken the key out. Felix had almost begun to fall back asleep from the sounds of the rain relaxing him, until the click of Ashe unbuckling his seatbelt woke him up again. He followed suit, and grabbed his umbrella out of his backpack, and the two of them quickly got out of the car and headed up to the house.


	5. Chapter 5

“Felix… Feeeeeeliiiiiiiix. Wake up, Fe.”

“Mmn_no._” Felix mumbled, and nestled into his pillow even more. “Don’ feel good. M’brain hurts.”

Ashe just sighed and shook his head with a smile, and got on his knees next to the sofa to be closer to Felix’s face. He reached up to brush some of his hair out his face, and just took a moment to look at Felix before trying to wake him again.

“I know you aren’t in a good place mentally right now, but you’ve gotta wake up to eat, Fe. You’ll only feel physically sick alongside that if you don’t. Remember what you told me: mental health and physical health go hand in hand.”

That got a sigh in response as Felix slowly opened his eyes.

“Yeah, well, my physical health is total shit now too, so fuckin’ hooplah. I’ll still eat though, what is it?”

He sat up, and smiled a bit when Ashe motioned to the plate of spaghetti he had placed on the coffee table next to them. He situated to sit cross-legged on the sofa while keeping himself covered up, and let himself smile wider when Ashe handed him his plate and got comfortable next to him with his own plate in hand. Both took their first bite at the same time.

“So, is it good?”

“Holy hell, this is delicious!”

“I’m so happy to hear that!” Ashe said happily as he watched Felix eat much more with each bite now. “But don’t eat that too fast, we don’t want you to feel all sick from getting too full too fast.”

Felix just shrugged and kept eating.

“Well it’s already too late for that since I already do, but fuck it, this is too yummy.”

Right as Felix opened his mouth to take his final bite, his phone began to ring. He rolled his eyes and grumbled before putting the plate down to grab his phone and answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hey, you still doing okay?”

“Yup.” Felix replied blandly. “I’m eating dinner with Ashe right now. What’d you want, Sylvain?”

Sylvain wouldn’t deny that Felix being so dismissive hurt his feelings pretty bad. He just hid it away and continued.

“I was just checkin’ up on you is all. Glad to hear you’re doing alright. I was worrying about you pretty hardcore this whole time, I won’t lie.”

“Why?”

That was an even deeper stab right into his heart. Did Felix not think he cared or something?

“Because we’re best friends and I care about you, why else would I always be around you and be so worried about you all the time?”

Silence was all that lingered for a few moments. It was making Sylvain worried all over again. The sigh that Felix finally forced out sounded a bit strained.

“Not sure. Never thought about it outside of the Academy. Just thought you might’ve been sticking around out of habit I guess? I dunno, like I said I haven’t thought about it in a long time.”

There hasn’t been a moment that Sylvain had to try his hardest not to cry like this since he was a child. There was so much sadness and pain that coursed through him hearing those words come so easily from Felix’s mouth. He truly thought Sylvain only stuck around out of habit, didn’t he? Why didn’t he say anything about that before? Why did it not seem to bother him much?

“Why…” Sylvain had to take a second before he spoke again, else he’d get choked up. “Why would you think I’d be by you so much just out of habit? There’s not a moment I’m not thinking about you and wondering how you’re doing, at least a little bit, and hoping you’re alright when I’m not around. Felix, I’m so sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn’t care, I don’t wanna seem like that kind of guy…”

Felix looked down at his free hand, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to process everything going on. Ashe only watched quietly, his concern evident but not wanting to insert himself into the situation.

“Felix, why aren’t you saying anything? Why didn’t you tell me you felt that way? Why does it not seem to bother you-”

“That’s enough, Sylvain. Stop it. I’m not in the mood for this. You’re upset over something and were before you called, I already know it, so go calm yourself before contacting me again. You’re overstimulating me and getting me worked up again.”

There were a few sniffles from the other side, then a quiet hum of agreement.

“You’re right, sorry about that. I got a bit carried away, so I’ll go chill for a bit and let you go, ‘kay? Enjoy your dinner, dude.”

Before Felix could respond again, Sylvain hung up. He stared at his phone for a moment before he put it back down and grabbed his plate again to take the last bite of what remained.

“Is everything okay?” Ashe asked softly.

Felix nodded and put the plate in his lap. “I guess he had a bad day or something, he got pretty emotional there. Anyway, now that that’s over and I’m done with my plate, may I have some more?”

“Of course you may! I’ll go get you some more really quick, I’ll be right back!”

Ashe took the plate from him and stacked it on top of his own, and stood to make his way to the kitchen. Felix looked down at his hands again with another small sigh. That little… episode of Sylvain’s will need to be brought up again soon, he was too curious about what that whole thing was about now.


	6. Chapter 6

Ashe fiddled with the drawstrings on his coat nervously, only growing even more nervous as the seconds passed by. He'd asked Sylvain to meet him here, but he was running a few minutes late. Though he wasn't too late, and Ashe finally spotted Sylvain jogging up to him.

"Hey Ashe, sorry I was late, the car took a bit to start since I had to let it warm it up a bit before heading out."

"Hey Sylvain, I'm glad you could make it."

Sylvain made himself comfortable next to Ashe on the bench he had been sitting on, the silence between them becoming a bit awkward as it lingered for a while.

"So, what'd you need to talk to me about?"

"O-oh, well..." Ashe paused as he ran what he wanted to say over in his head a few times. He wanted to be careful going about this. "I was wondering if you're doing alright."

"Huh? I'm fine. Had a few bad days here and there the past week or so, but they're just from wakin' up on the wrong side of the bed on workdays. Why?"

"Are you sure you're fine?"

Ashe almost wanted to take back what he had said when he saw Sylvain's expression drop. That serious frown on his face and the skeptical look in his eyes as he looked at Ashe was a bit intimidating.

"What're you getting at, exactly?"

"No, it's nothing bad! I've just... noticed things. You've been staring at me a lot with an odd look in your eyes lately, especially when we both stayed with Felix. I was just worried about you, and wanted to see if I could help with anything that might be bothering you."

When they had both stayed over with Felix, there were moments he felt the other’s eyes focused intensely on him while he paid attention to the video playing on Felix’s laptop, with something Ashe couldn’t quite place. When they had all gotten ready for bed, he could see the brief flash of something odd in those eyes when Felix immediately turned to get comfortable close to him instead of Sylvain, and noticed how Sylvain moved closer to him once they were all lying down.

Sylvain searched those green eyes intently. What the hell was Ashe on about so suddenly? Whatever it was, it put Sylvain on guard, just in case. He expected so many things, but what he didn't expect was to find absolutely nothing suspicious about Ashe's body language. Nothing hidden in those eyes.

He turned to look away before he spoke.

"You really wanna help?"

A nod and hum of confirmation from Ashe.

"Fine. Then answer this one question." He looked at Ashe again, no longer hiding anything as he let his eyebrows furrow. "How long have you and Felix been dating without telling anyone?"

It was almost like everything around them fell quiet after that, and Ashe almost could've sworn that time had frozen for a slight moment. That was definitely a turn he didn't think would happen so soon into the talk.

"Wh...What? We aren't dating, who told you we were?"

Yet another unexpected thing that had Sylvain taken aback.

"Wait. Hold on." He shook his head as he tried to gather his thoughts. "So you mean to tell me that you two are all lovey-dovey, and shamelessly touchy-feely around me, and you _AREN'T_ dating? What the fuck are you... Never mind."

He scooted a bit away from Ashe and crossed his arms with a sigh.

"What? What's wrong, Sylvain? If we made you uncomfortable, I'm so sorry, we didn't know!"

"No, it's fine. It's not my business what you two do. He wouldn't listen to me over you, anyway."

Suddenly, it all made sense. Ashe knew what was wrong now. Sylvain was _jealous_, and was only getting even more jealous as time went on. Jealous of Ashe, and his closeness to Felix.

"Oh, Sylvain, I get it now... But, I just want to say that there's nothing to be jealous of, he cares about you and sees you as a friend, too! He talks about you in good ways all the time! You're his best friend-"

"Goddess fucking dammit Ashe, that's the problem!"

Both jumped from how loud he had shouted just then.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you like that."

"It's nothing to apologize for. And hey, can I ask you something?" Ashe scoot closer again, making sure that Sylvain wouldn't be able to move away from him any further. "Is it because you have feelings for him?"

He didn't know why that odd swell of bravery to showed up _now_ of all times, but it was here, and it wasn't going away as soon as it came like it usually did. He did know that he was going to use this to his advantage to figure out this situation, though. He didn't rush the other, staying silent to let him gather his thoughts as long as he needed to do so. The small nod he got in response was all he needed to know.

"I see." Ashe said. "I can tell this is putting a lot of stress on you. I can also tell that you've had things you've wanted to say to him too, now that I know the context, so would you like me to help you out and tell him for you?"

"No!"

He didn't move away when Sylvain gripped his shoulders, not daring to ruin this opportunity to get Sylvain to open up now. He'd close off even more if Ashe were to pull away or interrupt him, so he was allowed to continue speaking. "_Please_ don't, I don't wanna stress him out even more. Plus he obviously has his eyes on you, and I wouldn't get in the way of that even if it would save my life."

"He has his eyes on _me?_ Are you sure?"

At this point, there could've been a tally on how many awkward silences these two had between each other. But Sylvain was too dumbfounded to do anything but blink at Ashe and stare at him for a bit. No wonder they weren't dating yet, both of them were completely oblivious to what was going on...

"Oh my good Lord, out of everyone I expect to be dim about these things, you never would've even been near that list until now. Now you're in fucking space just like Felix is. And here I thought you knew I had feelings for him but just ignored it, but you didn't even know Felix wants you back. I'm not even mad or sad or jealous anymore, there's no reason to be..."

Sylvain chuckled and stood to walk away, only stopping to turn and shoot Ashe a grin.

"I'll get over it. It was all over a misunderstanding. You go ahead and tell him how you feel, I'm rooting for you."

"What?! W-wait, are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yup!" He didn't even turn back around this time and just kept walking. "I've just gotta take a bit to let it all sink in, but I'm all good aside from that. We cleared the air, don't worry. See ya later, Ashe!"

No matter how much Ashe called for him, he didn't stop walking, and only raised an arm up to wave. Ashe just sighed and shook his head, and stood up to head back to his own car.

"I... _guess_ I solved the problem? Who knows, it _is_ Sylvain after all..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We all know Sylvain hides things behind that smile, so I used that fact here. It's a little rushed since I'm in a bit of a depressive slump at the moment and writing is just... n o t coming to me well right now, so apologies for that.
> 
> But yeah, just assume it's rushed because he needed to just get out of there so he can process what just happened. He's thrown off at such levels of obliviousness.


	7. Chapter 7

“So, you had something on your mind?”

“Yes.” Felix said softly. “I wanted to ask you for some personal advice, since you’re the only one I know with such experience in what I want to know.”

The anxiety Felix had been feeling had been eating away at him to the point of instability these past few days. He wanted, _needed_ to finally get what had been causing him such distress out to someone, so he pushed down that old pride he still held onto and sent Claude a text asking to come over.

“Is that so? Well, I’ll try my hardest not to disappoint, then.” Claude took a moment to get a sip from the can of soda he’d been holding before he continued. “Now ask good ol’ Claude here the things that have got you bothered.”

A few deep breaths. It was now or never.

“Would you help me find out how Ashe feels about me?”

Claude blinked a few times in surprise, but gave Felix a soft smile and a nod afterwards. The visible relief on his friend’s face made him smile even wider.

“Of course I’ll help you with that! But would you be okay if I asked a few personal questions first?”

“Of course, Anything that’ll help me figure all of this out.”

“Okay, first question.” Claude put the soda can down on the end table next to the bed, and looked at Felix intently. “Is this to see if romantic feelings are requited?”

A slow nod in response.

“Okay. Has this been going on for a while? If so, how long have you felt this way for him?”

“Since… since the Officers Academy.”

“Oh, wow, that’s _definitely_ more than infatuation. You’ve had more than enough time to think about it and know for sure. You love him by now. I’m actually a little bit impressed that you’ve managed to keep that inside your heart for so long, not gonna lie.”

“Knowing the context and how you are, I’m not going to take that as a compliment.”

“Good, because it’s not really a good thing.” Claude replied with a small smirk. “Anyway, last question. And this is definitely something you can say no to and it not be bad at all. Would you like me to tell him and help get you guys going?”

“Wait, hold on! D-don’t go jumping into that shit so soon, I don’t even know if he returns my feelings-”

“I wouldn’t be asking you this if he didn’t.”

Claude almost chuckled at how quickly Felix fell silent and shut his mouth, his eyes wide as saucers at hearing that. He could only stutter, unable to get out anything he wanted to say as he became overwhelmed.

“Man, your face is real red, Fe~”

“Shut up, don’t fuckin’... Fuck...”

“Okay, I’ll let up. Sorry about that. I’ll just let you think about all this, alright? You don’t have to answer me right away, these sorts of things can take time.”

“Actually…” Another deep breath in and out, and Felix had managed to calm himself enough to speak. “I wanna tell him on my own. You helped me more than enough already, thank you so much.”

* * *

The air was heavy, his thoughts completely taken over.

Felix bit his lip as the sensations shot up and down his spine in waves, making him tremble as the movements of his hand picked up the pace. He was already close, and he wouldn’t be able to hold back much longer, especially because of the things he’d been picturing.

The partner he pictured himself with was no longer faceless, a dark blush spread across that beautiful freckled face he knew so well. Those cute lips parted to let out sweet whines, words of praise, and begs for more. Those green eyes watering from such pleasure.

‘Felix… I love you…’

Those words were Felix’s undoing, and the intensity of his finish was enough to have him letting out a soft moan, where he would otherwise remain silent. He let himself bask in the afterglow, but not long enough to have him giving in to the tiredness that had washed over him. After sitting up to clean off, he took some time to just stare off at nothing in particular.

“I’m gonna have to tell him and soon, this is getting too much for me now…”


	8. Chapter 8

Ashe's mind had been beyond hyperactive the past few days.

Since his exchange with Sylvain, so many things had been on his mind, and all of it was too much to process all at once. At least on his own. So, he decided to call one person he felt could help him out.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Claude. Could you help me out for a moment?"

Claude grinned from ear to ear. This was all way too easy for him at this point.

"Sure thing, hold on just a sec and let me put you on speaker for a minute, since I'm gonna need my hands free to change my clothes."

Ashe waited in silence until he heard Claude give the go-ahead.

"Alright, so I have something that's been on my mind for a while that's been distracting me, and hoped you could be of assistance."

"And what might that be, eh?" Claude asked with a curious tone, though in his mind he knew exactly what it was going to be. But of course he wouldn't reveal that right away.

"Have you spoken to Felix lately?"

"I talked to him a few days ago, yeah." Claude took a moment to pull off his shirt and unhook his bra, and change into a fresh set before speaking again. "Did something happen between the two of you?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that. I was just wondering since I wanted your help with something involving him. Something really important."

He almost got nervous from the silence that followed, but it went away when he heard Claude pick up the phone again.

"Sorry about that silence, I took you off speaker real quick. So what's this important thing? Ya need gift ideas? Wanna know something ya think only I know?"

"Something like that, I suppose." Ashe swallowed down the returning nervousness. He wasn't going to let himself back out of this now, he's gone too far already. "I was wanting to know what a good way to... confess to him is."

_'Theeeere it is~'_ Claude thought to himself giddily. He was excited to get this show on the road from the start.

"Awww, that's so sweet! And yeah, I think I know a good way to! Just give him something from the heart. Not anything store bought. Maybe write him a letter, or draw him a picture, or pick him some flowers or something to give to him as you tell him. Something that you put your heart into before you give it to him. We both know he's really come to favor things like that instead of just brute skills in combat these days."

"That's very true, back then he probably would've barely even considered it if I didn't have the skills in the areas of combat he admires."

_'I'm not so sure about that, chief, since he's loved you for over five years.'_

"Heh, maybe so. Hell, buying him a sword back then would've had him making the wedding preparations right then and there."

Ashe giggled at that mental image. As exaggerated as it would've been to others outside of their circle, it made perfect sense to everyone else within it, seeing how much Felix adored swords. The man basically existed solely with cats, good steak and meatloaf, and swords on his mind all the time. Mostly swords.

"But yeah, all jokes aside, something from the heart. And you're very good at putting your heart into what all you do, so I know you can do something he'll love. He loves everything you do as is."

"Oh geez, that's gonna make me blush, Claude..." Well, he already was, even more so after he heard the other chuckle at him. "B-but anyways, I'm gonna do something small, but not too small. Maybe I'll go with the first thing you said and write him a little letter!"

"Hell yeah, brother! I believe in you, go knock him right out of his heels with that letter!"

"I will, thank you so much, Claude! You've been such a big help! I'm gonna go ahead and let you go so I can get started, bye bye!"

* * *

It was already long into the night by the time Ashe had finally finished that letter. With many, _many_ pieces of paper crumpled up and tossed into the little trash can next to his desk from his previous attempts, he was finally ready to fold this up and put it in an envelope. He was practically floating as he made his way through his house to get everything needed to prepare this letter, the excitement and confidence rising in him by the second because of how proud he felt of his writing.

"He'll love it, I KNOW he will!"


End file.
